Toy grader blade

ABSTRACT

A miniature toy road grader having an elongated body supported on front and rear ground wheels for moving the body longitudinally along a line of travel, a grader blade mounted on the body intermediate the front and rear wheels to extend laterally at a trailing angle from one side of the body to engage the ground surface, the blade being pivoted to the body on an axis substantially bisecting the angle between the blade in its lateral extension and the line of travel of the body whereby the blade may be swung upwardly and forwardly about the axis to a transport position beside the body and parallel to said line of travel.

United States Patent Pfeilsticker 1 Dec. 26, 1972 [54] TOY GRADER BLADE [72] Inventor: Lee J. Pieilsticker, Long Lake,

Minn.

[73] Assignee: 'lonlra Corporation, Minneapolis,

' Minn.

[22] Filed: Feb. 25, 1972 [21] App]. No.: 229,297

[52] US. Cl ..46/40 51 lm. Cl. .Jleah 33/30 [58] Field of Search ..46/39, 40, 41, 202; l72/782 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,031,751 2/1936 wait et al 1.46/40 3,241,254 3/1966 Ulrich ..172/782 1,592,690 7/1926 Wilson ..172/782 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-J. Q. Lever Attorney-Carlsen, Carlsen & Sturm s71 ABSTRACT A miniature toy road grader having an elongated body supported on front and rear ground wheels for moving the body longitudinally along a line of travel, a grader blade mounted on the body intermediate the front and rear wheels to extend laterally at a trailing angle from one side of the body to engage the ground surface, the blade being pivoted to the body on an axis substantially bisecting the angle between the blade in its lateral extension and the line of travel of the body whereby the blade may be swung upwardly and for- V wardly about the axis to a transport position beside the body and parallel to said line of travel.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED DEC 26 m2 SHEET 2 BF 2 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Toy road graders are generally provided with a grader blade extending transversely under the front portion of the grader body or forward extension thereof and which blade may be raised and lowered relative to the ground surface and'adjusted about a vertical axis between different angles relative to the line of travel. In such a structure it is necessary to limitthe width of the blade in order that the toy may be packaged in a box substantially equal to the overall width of the toy. With the blade so restricted in size the grader is capable of forming only a relatively narrow path when used in sand or the like.

Where a laterally extending blade is provided adapted to rest upon the ground surface, the blade may cause damage to a floor or carpet surface when the toy is used indoors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a toy grader with a laterally extending blade adapted to en- .gage and move sand along a relatively wide path and wherein the blade may be moved to a raised transport or packaging position beside the grader body when not in use.

With this and other objects in view the invention broadly comprises a toy road grader having a grader DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In thedrawings: I FIG. 1 is a plan view of thetoy road grader with the grader blade in operative position.

side walls 19 and 20. The front portion of section 14 has a top wall disposed rust over axle 21 and connecting walls 19 and 20.

The grader blade denoted generally at 26 forming the subject of the present invention comprises an elongated rod having an inner portion 27 journaled in openings 28 and 29 in walls 18 and 17 and an outer portion which carries a grader blade 31. Blade 31 is arcuate in vertical cross section so asvto form a forwardly opening slide trough when the blade is in operative positionas shown in FIG. 1. The blade is permitted to swing downwardly below the bottom plane of the ground wheels so that it will drag along the ground or floor surface when the grader is pushed forwardly. When-used in loose sand the blade 31 will obviously cause sand to'move outwardly therealong and form a windrow at the extended end of the blade.

As hereinbefore mentioned the inner portion 27 of the blade support rod is joumaled for rotation in aper- I .tures 28 and 29 formed in the side walls of body section 14. These apertures are not in lateral alignment but FIG. 2 is a plan view of the grader with the blade in transport position.

FIG. 3 is a right side elevation of the grader-with the blade in transport position. 1

FIG. 4 is an inverted plan view of the front portion of the grader taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularly to the drawings,

. reference numerals will be used to denote like parts or structural features in the different views.- The toy grader is denoted generally at 10 and has an elongated articulated body consisting of a power unit or rear section 11 mounted on a pair of ground wheels 12 and a front section or grader blade support unit 14 having its rear-portion pivoted on a vertical axis as at 15 to the rear section 1 1. An operators'compartment 16 on section 14 has a pair of transversely spaced right and left side walls 17 and 18 extending downwardly therefrom.

The front end of body section 14 has diverging right and left side walls 19 and 20 which have transversely aligned apertures journaling an axle 21 having wheel members 22 press fit on the ends thereof with hub portions 24 holding the wheels 22 in spaced relation to the rather aperture 28 is located rearwardly of aperture 29 so that the axis of rotation is disposed at an angle to the vertical plane which is normal to the line of travel denoted by line XY in FIG. 1.

The pivotal mounting of the blade 31 is to permit it to be swung between the laterally extending operative position at the drag angle denoted by line Y in FIG. 1 and a forwardly extending transport position along line XX with the blade resting on wall 25 as shown in FIG. 2. Accordingly, the angle of the pivot axis ZZ is determined by the drag angle of the blade. The axis Z- Z bisects the angle between the line of travel XX and line of drag Y-Y of blade 31. For example, the obtuse angle between lines XX and line Y-Y inFIG. 1 is approximately 126. Accordingly, the outwardly opening inside angle between line Y-Y and axis ZZ is approximately 63 so that when blade 31 is swung to its transport position it will lie along line XX representing the path of travel.

It will be understood that when the grader is packaged or used indoors, the blade 31 will be placed in the transport position of FIGS. 2 to 4.

Having now therefore fully illustrated and described the invention, what is claimed to be new is:

1. In a toy grader,

a. an elongated body supported on ground wheels for movement along a line of travel, a grader blade pivotally mounted on the body to extend laterally from a medial point on one side thereon at an obtuse drag angle to the line of travel,

tuse angle whereby as the blade is swung upwardly and forwardly about said axis it will be moved into a transport position along said body and parallel to the line of travel.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 wherein said body has front wheels disposed on opposite sides of the body with the wheel on said one side lying laterally beyond the pivot whereby the blade is deposited between said wheel and the body when in transport position.

3. The subject matter of claim 1 wherein said obtuse angle is between ll0 and 1 the blade pivot lying on an axis bisecting the ob-v 

1. In a toy grader, a. an elongated body supported on ground wheels for movement along a line of travel, b. a grader blade pivotally mounted on the body to extend laterally from a medial point on one side thereon at an obtuse drag angle to the line of travel, c. the blade pivot lying on an axis bisecting the obtuse angle whereby as the blade is swung upwardly and forwardly about said axis it will be moved into a transport position along said body and parallel to the line of travel.
 2. The subject matter of claim 1 wherein said body has front wheels disposed on opposite sides of the body with the wheel on said one side lying laterally beyond the pivot whereby the blade is deposited between said wheel and the body when in transport position.
 3. The subject matter of claim 1 wherein said obtuse angle is between 110* and 135*. 